Posting this here for all LJ's to respond!

While we make every effort to please every customer who chooses to do business with us, unfortunately we don’t always succeed, even though pleasing our customers has been our greatest source of satisfaction for over 30 years. The Internet has dramatically changed the way people shop, and the way merchants peddle their wares. Information can now travel at the speed of light. So why am I bringing this up now? It’s in response to the frustration I feel when we don’t click with a customer, and then for some reason, nothing we’re able to do seems to rectify the situation to everyone’s satisfaction. That happened to us this week. You can read it about it here in the Google Places review dated August 10, 2011. Online reviews of businesses and their products are a truly great resource for helping people choose what to buy and where to buy it. Sometimes though the picture gets distorted because it’s often only the unhappy customer who takes the time to express their feelings and describe their experience in a review. We’re particularly troubled by the impression people may get when they first read that August 10 review, even though I have placed a response to it online. We would love for our reviews on Google Places (and elsewhere) to actually reflect how most people feel about Highland Woodworking. If you would care to weigh in with your own impressions of the quality of our tools and the helpfulness of our sales staff, I invite you to click here and take a moment to write a short review based on your own experience. Please know that we appreciate the support of all the customers who have enabled us to continually grow our business since 1978, and we always welcome and appreciate your feedback. Sincerely, Chris Bagby, owner and founderHighland Hardware, Inc.

23 comments so far

Sometimes it’s not worth bringing up issues that some people (most?) know nothing about. No idea what he is talking about but I’ll bet everyone is going to take a look now – is that good or bad?

Is it good or bad to invite people to look at bad reviews? and ask them to post ‘better’ review or should we trust that popular opinion will eventually play out with more reviews. Personally I wouldn’t pay attention to a single bad review esp. if there is only 1 review in total.

shrug From what I’ve read on LJ’s, most of us seem to have a pretty balanced approach when it comes to bad reviews about businesses or manufacturers. One bad review is not going to change my view of a company, nor is one good one. Where I start to get concerned is when a bunch of reviews say the same thing…eg. I’d be extremely hesitant to buy Laguna due to the many, many people commenting on its non-existant customer service.

I’ll probably go there and give them an excellent review. Because that is how I feel about Highland.

I’ll say this on Lumberjocks. I’ve shopped at Highland Hardware (Highland Woodworking) for years. I love the atmosphere there and I also love the people. I have been in there quite a number of times and I have received the best of care every time. Their sales people are extremely interested in woodworking and they are also interested in the woodworkers who come in there. They seem to be more interesting in helping someone than making a sale. In other words, if you need help they will help you and are never too busy. They have always done so with me. I have never been disappointed or sorry that I went in there nor have I ever been lied to or mistreated in any way. This also goes for internet orders. Even though I am only forty miles from their store I don’t always take time to drive to the store because I’m always busy. I’m always in a hurry to receive my merchandise because I’m usually ordering something that I needed yesterday. They have never botched up any of my shipments and they usually have what I’m looking for in stock. I highly recommend them as a source for woodworking tools and supplies. Their store is quaint and charming and fun to visit.

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

I went and looked this morning, when the blog entry was posted. There were 13 pages of reviews, but all of the reviews except one (from 2010) were made today. There wasn’t a review dated August 10th. I think whatever negative review had been there got removed somehow – maybe the original poster is able to remove his or her own review.

^I can’t imagine that you upset anyone, Lew. I’ve never heard a single thing bad about Highland; and I’ve heard a lot of good. Like Cessna says, one bad comment can really ruin a guy’s day, especially if he takes great pride in his company. Once, some guy on Ebay left me a negative comment, claiming that I hadn’t paid him. Not only had I paid him, I never received the merchandise. I was upset for months. In fact, it’s bothering me right now!

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

I got the massage and saw the review in question. The language and arrogance in the review spoke volumes about the writer. It was a scathing review of Highland’s customer service but a much harsher review of himself.

I think the CEO more or less wasted his time, although I may have done the same. It was clearly a case of “consider the source and disregard”.

I suspect the bad review got “bumped off” by the good ones, after this relatively small busnessman decided to protect himself. I think this is a service to this vendor, Lew, but also a service to LJ’s like me, who will now go looking for things there. I am always looking for good vendors, and that is part of the attraction to LJ’s. I have purchased a number of items from previously unknown vendors over the last couple of years purely on the recommendation of LJ’s.

This is one of the ways we can protect ourselves…..support the good vendors, and blast the bad ones. And it is important to support the good vendors, especially the smaller ones, in these relatively tough economic times.

I regularly buy WoodSlicer bandsaw blades from Highland. They give a very smooth cut in very hard woods. They don’t stay sharp as long as I would wish, but I think I get good value. The service has always been good, but I only do online shopping. Too far for a visit. I also read the emails from the customer and ‘he’ sure was agitated! There was another bad review of a visit to the store. i will continue to shop with them because my experience has been good.